Africa’s television giants are reinventing themselves to survive the streaming age

Traditional broadcasters are cutting subscription costs, partnering with global streaming platforms and moving onto digital channels as competition for African audiences intensifies.

SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Canal+ is restructuring DStv’s subscription packages across African markets, lowering the cost of premium football and changing how viewers access its content as the broadcaster seeks to rebuild its business after years of subscriber losses.

The move reflects a wider shift in Africa’s entertainment market, where telecom operators, broadcasters and global platforms are competing not only over content, but also over distribution, payments and control of audiences.

From 5 November 2026, DStv will introduce new subscription packages in several African markets, including Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia.

In Kenya, a new Sports package will cost KSh3,000 (US$23.09) a month and include every Premier League and UEFA Champions League match. In Ghana, the equivalent package will cost GH¢250 (US$21.47), down from GH¢563 (US$48.34) for the previous full football offering, a reduction of about 56%.

The restructuring follows years of pressure on MultiChoice from subscriber losses, affordability concerns, illegal streaming and competition from digital platforms.

MultiChoice reported 14.5 million active linear television subscribers in the financial year ending March 2025, an 8% decline from the previous year. Group revenue fell 9% to R50.8 billion (US$3.04 billion), while trading profit dropped 49% to R4 billion (US$240 million).

Canal+, which completed its takeover of MultiChoice in December 2025, is now attempting to reshape the business around a more segmented subscription model.

Instead of requiring viewers to buy the most expensive package to access premium football, the new structure introduces dedicated Sports tiers alongside cheaper entry-level options.

The changes are not uniform across the continent. Kenya, Ghana and Uganda are introducing dedicated Sports packages, while South Africa has adopted a different structure that redistributes content across packages without reducing existing prices.

Nigeria retains its previous top-tier price but introduces a separate Sports package. The variations reflect the different purchasing power, market conditions and regulatory pressures facing the broadcaster in individual countries.

In Ghana, the changes follow a prolonged dispute between the government and MultiChoice over subscription affordability. In 2025, Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George demanded a reduction in prices and threatened regulatory action.

The latest restructuring has also been presented as part of a wider effort to make legal access more affordable and strengthen the government’s campaign against illegal pay-TV services and streaming devices.

The commercial question for Canal+ is whether lower prices can attract new subscribers, bring back former customers and improve retention without eroding revenue from premium sports rights. The company is effectively betting that a larger paying audience can compensate for lower subscription prices.

MultiChoice Kenya chief executive Nzola Miranda has described the logic behind the strategy as a choice between extracting more revenue from fewer customers and expanding the customer base through lower prices.

“You either increase prices, you get more money from less people, or you increase the number of customers, even if they pay lower,” he said.

But the restructuring is about more than subscription prices. Canal+ is also expanding the ways viewers can access its services, including through DStv Stream and partnerships that bring its application onto connected televisions.

In June 2026, the company expanded its partnership with Samsung, making DStv Stream available pre-installed on new Samsung Smart TVs across 18 African countries.

The move allows the broadcaster to reach households without relying exclusively on satellite decoders. It also places DStv within the same connected-device environment in which international streaming platforms compete for viewers.

Canal+ has pursued a similar distribution strategy through partnerships with global content providers.

In June 2025, the French media group and Netflix extended their distribution partnership to 24 French-speaking sub-Saharan African countries. Under the arrangement, Canal+ subscribers can access Netflix through their existing subscription, without needing a separate account or login.

The deal gives Netflix access to Canal+’s established distribution and billing infrastructure, while allowing Canal+ to add one of the world’s largest streaming services to its content offering. Rather than competing solely for subscribers, the two companies are combining their strengths to reach and retain audiences.

Marie Lora-Mungai, an advisor and investor in African creative industries, describes the partnership as a way for Netflix to benefit from Canal+’s established presence and billing systems in Francophone Africa.

The strategy became more significant as Canal+ expanded its position across the continent through its acquisition of MultiChoice, bringing DStv, GOtv and SuperSport into its wider media portfolio.

The group now combines television channels, sports rights, streaming services and established distribution networks across English- and French-speaking African markets.

However, the contest is not limited to subscription platforms. In June 2025, French broadcaster TF1 launched TF1+ in 22 Francophone African countries, offering a free, advertising-supported catalogue of films, series and entertainment programming.

A year later, its relationship with Canal+ came under strain after the two companies failed to agree on new carriage terms. In July 2026, Canal+ confirmed it would remove seven TF1 Group channels from its African offering, including TF1, TMC, TFX and news channel LCI.

The dispute exposed a growing tension between broadcasters seeking greater value for their content and pay-TV operators negotiating the cost of distributing it.

Lora-Mungai argues that the launch could help establish advertising-supported video-on-demand as a more significant business model in the region. It could also create a larger digital advertising market for companies seeking to reach French-speaking audiences, while encouraging platforms to improve how they measure and monetise online viewership.

The distinction between these models matters in a region where subscription costs and mobile data prices can limit access to digital entertainment. A free platform removes the monthly subscription charge, although viewers still need internet access and may incur data costs. An advertising-funded service, meanwhile, depends on attracting enough viewers to make its audience valuable to advertisers.

Telecom operators are also entering this market by using their existing networks and payment services to distribute entertainment.

MTN’s move into original television production is one example of how the boundaries between telecommunications and media are changing.

In October 2026, the group’s MTN One TV launched its first original series, 100 Ways to Stay Single in Lagos, produced by Nigerian filmmaker Mimi Bartels and featuring creative talent from Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana. The series became available to viewers in South Africa, Ghana and Zambia, with a wider rollout across MTN markets planned.

The launch followed the introduction of MTN One TV in June, when the telecom group began rolling out a mobile-first entertainment service combining local storytelling, live television and international programming.

Depending on the market, customers can access free-to-view, advertising-funded, pay-per-view and subscription content, with payment options including airtime and Mobile Money.

“Entertainment is increasingly becoming an important gateway to digital participation,” said Selorm Adadevoh, MTN Group’s chief commercial, strategy and transformation officer, when the platform was introduced. He said the company was using its connectivity and fintech capabilities to widen access to content and support Africa’s creative and digital economies.

For MTN, which operates across 16 African markets and serves more than 300 million subscribers, the opportunity is to move further up the digital value chain. Rather than only providing the infrastructure that carries video, the company is seeking to become a platform through which content is distributed, paid for and consumed.

That market opportunity is increasingly visible in the growth of YouTube, which has become a major distribution channel for African filmmakers, musicians and other creators.

Unlike subscription platforms, YouTube allows audiences to watch much of its content without paying a monthly fee, while creators and the platform generate revenue through advertising.

Shadie Mphaphuli, founder and chief executive of Home Cinema Plus, argues that the industry’s focus on competition between Netflix and DStv Stream overlooks the scale of advertising-supported video. In an industry commentary, he pointed to projections showing YouTube generating more streaming revenue in sub-Saharan Africa than any individual subscription-video platform.

According to 3Vision’s Video Markets Tracker, YouTube is forecast to generate US$583 million in advertising-supported video revenue in sub-Saharan Africa in 2026, rising to US$1.18 billion by 2031. The projection would make it the region’s largest streaming business by advertising revenue, although it remains a forecast rather than confirmed earnings.

The same research estimates that total streaming revenue across sub-Saharan Africa will increase from US$1.8 billion in 2026 to US$3.1 billion by 2031.

That growth is expected to come from a combination of subscription and advertising-supported services, with YouTube accounting for a particularly large share of the latter.

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Bonface Orucho, bird story agency